AU2006200737A1 - An advertising device and method - Google Patents

Description

S&FRef: 742820

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name and Address of Applicant Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Fridge Door Concepts Pty. Ltd., an Australian company, ACN 113 061 868, of 1/227 Oberon Street, Coogee, New South Wales, 2034, Australia Jeremy John Preston White Spruson Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) An advertising device and method The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5845c -1- AN ADVERTISING DEVICE AND METHOD Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to advertising and, in particular, to a device and an associated advertising method.

Background Merchants have always faced the challenge of advertising their products in order to obtain, increase and maintain their market share. The volume and variety of advertising material is increasing all the time, and potential consumers consequently can be overwhelmed, thus decreasing the effectiveness of the advertising. Attempts have been made to motivate consumers to pay attention to advertising by combining advertising with discount offers. One such approach takes the form of a book of discount vouchers, each voucher carrying an advertisement for an associate merchant. These books however address a very large number of merchants and their products, typically covering a wide geographic area. Accordingly, the consumer purchasing or otherwise obtaining such a book can still be overwhelmed by the volume and variety of advertising material.

Summary It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements.

Disclosed are arrangements, referred to as customised calendar arrangements, which seek to address the above problems by producing an advertising vehicle which is customized to a relatively narrow market segment. In one arrangement this vehicle is a fridge mountable customised calendar with tear off pages, each of which has a monthly calendar and individual tear off discount coupons for products that have been selected on the basis of some attribute of the person to whom the calendar is supplied.

200206 742820V2 -2- According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a customised calendar comprising: a stack of calendar pages being detachably attached to a backing sheet bearing a magnet mounted on a rear surface thereof, to thereby enable the calendar to be magnetically affixed to a vertical surface; wherein a facing one of the stack of calendar pages is detachable from the calendar without destabilising the affixed calendar; and upon each of the calendar pages is presented: calendar distributor advertising material; and calendar information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of segmented advertising comprising the steps of: specifying for each of a plurality of merchants a plurality of offers, each comprising a specified discount and advertising material for a product to be sold by the merchant; selecting by a calendar distributor at least one of the plurality of merchants; and producing a customised calendar according to claim 3, wherein the discount offer and merchant advertising material on each of the individually detachable discount coupons is established by the selecting step by the calendar distributor.

Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

Brief Description of the Drawings One or more embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings and appendices, in which: Fig. 1 shows one example of a communication infrastructure that can be used in practicing the disclosed customized calendar arrangements; Fig. 2 depicts an example of a customized discount calendar; 200206 742820V2 Fig. 3 depicts a process flowchart for introducing a new merchant into the customized calendar arrangement, or for updating details of a merchant already in the arrangement; Fig. 4 depicts a flowchart for introducing a new client, or for updating details of a currently enrolled client; Fig. 5 depicts a process for producing a new batch of customized calendars; Appendix A shows one tabular example of client data; and Appendix B shows a tabular example of merchant data.

Detailed Description including Best Mode Where reference is made in any one or more of the accompanying drawings to steps and/or features, which have the same reference numerals, those steps and/or features have for the purposes of this description the same function(s) or operation(s), unless the contrary intention appears.

It is to be noted that the discussions contained in the "Background" section and that above relating to prior art arrangements relate to discussions of documents or devices which form public knowledge through their use. Such discussions should not be interpreted as a representation by the present inventor(s) or patent applicant that such documents or devices in any way form part of the common general knowledge in the art.

Fig. 1 shows one example of a communication infrastructure that can be used in practicing the disclosed customized calendar arrangements. From a business perspective, a merchant 516 has a product that he wishes to sell. In order to do so, the merchant 516 wishes to advertise the product using the disclosed customized calendar arrangements.

The merchant 516 accordingly approaches a calendar producer 515 who registers the merchant 516 in the customized calendar arrangement. The merchant 516 then provides to the calendar producer 515 details of an "offer", and associated advertising material.

200206 742820V2 -4- The offer is a discount offer relating to the product in question, and examples of offers can be found in Appendix B.

Thus, for example, if the merchant 516 is the ABC Hotel, then the offer may take the form of a 20% discount being offered on the price of a lunch ordered in the hotel restaurant on Saturdays, providing that the discount does not exceed a maximum value of The advertising material associated with the aforementioned offer might, for example, take the form of a logo associated with the ABC hotel, or a trademark of the hotel.

A client 501 who, in the present example, is a community organisation such as the University Cricket Club, wishes to raise funds for the club, and elects to do so through the sale of customized calendars to an end customer 511. In this context the client is a calendar distributor. In order to raise the noted funds, the client 501 contacts the calendar producer 515 and enrols in the customized calendar arrangement.

The client 501 has a client computer device 502 connected, as depicted by a connection 503, to a communication network 504. The merchant 516 has a computer device 510 that is similarly connected, as depicted by a connection 509, to the network 504. The calendar producer 515 has a computer device 508 that is also connected, as depicted by a connection 505, to the network 504.

By means of the aforementioned infrastructure, the merchant 516 is able to communicate the aforementioned product offer, and product advertising material to the calendar producer 515, possibly using World Wide Web page interaction. The product offer and product advertising details are stored, by the calendar producer 515, in the form of merchant data 512 on a merchant database 506 that communicates, as depicted by a connection 507, with the calendar producer server 508.

The client 501 deals with a particular group of end customers such as 511, and the client 501 is thus in a position to identify and specify a set of products that are 200206 742820V2 consistent with the nature and attributes of the end customer 511. The client 501 communicates these attributes to the calendar producer 515 by selecting, through the aforementioned infrastructure, a set of merchants, possibly including the merchant 516, whose products are deemed to be appropriate for the end customers 511. The calendar producer 515 incorporates the aforementioned data provided by the client 501, in the form of client data, 522 in a client database 521 that communicates, as depicted by a connection 520, with the calendar producer server 508.

From time to time, or on demand by the client 501, the calendar producer 515 produces a batch of customized calendars, and provides these to the client 501 as depicted by a dashed arrow 519. The client 501 pays the calendar producer 515 for the batch of calendars, as depicted by a dashed line 518. The merchant 516 may pay the calendar producer 515 for the advertising in the customized calendars, as depicted by a dashed arrow 517.

The client 501 distributes each calendar in the batch of customized calendars to a particular customer such as the customer 511, as depicted by a dashed arrow 513. The end customer 511 pays for the customised calendar, as depicted by a dashed arrow 514.

The beneficial outcome of the aforementioned arrangement is that the advertising material provided by the merchant 516 in relation to the specified product reaches, using the targeted advertising vehicle embodied in the customized calendar, a targeted market segment of whom the end customer 511 is a member. This typically increases the effectiveness of the advertising by the merchant 516 thereby increasing the sale of their product. The end customer 511 is further motivated to purchase the advertised product from the merchant 516 by virtue of the discount coupons provided in the customized calendar 513.

In the event that the client 501 is a community organisation such as the aforementioned University Cricket Club, then the customized calendar arrangement can 200206 742820V2 -6be a particular effective mechanism for fundraising for the club. Alternately, if the client 501 is a purely commercial organisation, then as will be described in relation to Fig. 2, the client 501 can advertise their own products to the end customers 511 in a targeted fashion, also using an aspect of the customized calendar 513.

Fig. 2 shows an example of a customized discount calendar. A front view 401 of the customized calendar shows that the calendar has two tear-off pages 411 in the present example, while a rear view 409 shows that the calendar has a calendar backing sheet 412.

The two tear-off pages 411 form part of a stack of calendar pages, typically twelve in number for a one year calendar, twenty four in number for a two year calendar and so on.

The tear-off pages 411 typically use paper having a rating of 100 grams per square meter (gsm) or greater whereas the backing sheet 412 typically has a rating of 160gsm or greater.

The calendar backing sheet 412 has a suitably sized magnet 410 attached to the page, and the calendar tear-off pages 411 are bound to the backing sheet 412 through a suitable tear-off binding mechanism 403. The tear-off binding mechanism 403 typically is effected by gluing the tops of the pages 411 and the backing 412 in a manner that facilitates tearing off individual pages while leaving the remainder of the pages still attached to the backing sheet 412, however other tear-off mechanisms such as spiral bindings can be used, provided that each of the pages can be independently detached, without destabilizing the calendar from it's position, for example, being vertically affixed to a fridge door. Typically, it is the facing or presently front page 402 which is detached.

The front page 402 of the calendar has client advertising material 404 located towards the top end of the page. In the event that the client 501 is the University Cricket Club, then the client advertising material 404 can take the form of sports-in-action photographs which serve to advertise the functions of the University Cricket Club rather than to sell products. If, on the other hand, the client 501 is the ABC car dealership, then the client 200206 742820V2 -7advertising material 404 can take the form of various family and sports cars that are sold by the dealership. These examples can be seen in Appendix A.

Standard calendar information 405 occupies a central segment of the facing calendar page 402. The calendar information 405 in the present example relates to a single month, and accordingly, the calendar would have a stack of twelve tear-off pages 411 mounted on the calendar backing sheet 412. The calendar can have more or less pages in the stack if pages depending on the wishes of the client 501. Each page in the stack can relate to one or more months. The calendar can also have an additional front page (not shown) in front of the calendar pages, showing additional advertising material relating to the client 501.

The lower end of the calendar page 402 has five tear-off discount coupons 406, formed by a horizontal perforation 407 and four vertical perforations 408. The tear-off discount coupon 406 contains the offer and the associated advertising material from the merchant 516. More, or less coupons 406 may be provided on the page 402. It is, therefore, apparent that the client 501 presents advertising material 404 to the end customer 511 on the calendar page 402, while the merchant 516 presents advertising material in the form of the tear-off discount coupon 406 to the end customer 511, both of these advertising messages being presented on the (facing) calendar page 402. The coupons such as 406 can have their validity associated with the visible calendar information 405. Thus, for example, the coupon 406 may be valid only if redeemed during the month defined by the calendar information 405. Although the coupons 406 in the described example form part of the page 402 and are detachable by virtue of the perforations 407 and 408, the coupons can be affixed using other mechanisms. Thus, for example, the coupons can be affixed to the page using a glue suitable for easy detachment without tearing the page.

200206 742820 The calendar producer 515 can also present his or her own advertising material at 411 on the calendar backing sheet 412 and/or on the front of the calendar pages 411.

Fig. 3 depicts a process flowchart for introducing a new merchant into the customized calendar arrangement, or for updating details of a merchant already in the arrangement. A process 100 commences with a step 101 in which the server 508 determines if a new merchant wishes to join the customized calendar arrangement, or if a currently enrolled merchant wishes to update their associated merchant data 512. If this is not the case, then the process 100 follows a NO arrow back to the step 101 in a looping fashion. If, on the other hand, the step 101 returns a logical TRUE value, then the process 100 follows a YES arrow to a step 102.

In the step 102 the server 508 and the merchant machine 510 communicate in order to define and/or update the product offer(s) that the merchant 516 wishes to introduce into the customised calendar arrangement. Thereafter, in a step 103 the merchant 516 defines the advertising material to be associated with the aforementioned offer or offers. Subsequently, in a step 105, the server 508 loads the aforementioned data provided in the steps 102 and 103 into the merchant database 506, thereby incorporating and/or updating the corresponding merchant data 512. The process then follows an arrow 106 back to the step 101.

Fig. 4 depicts a flowchart for introducing a new client, or for updating details of a currently enrolled client in the customised calendar arrangement. The process 200 commences with a step 201 in which the server 508 determines if a new client 501 wishes to join the customized calendar arrangement, or if an existing client wishes to update their selection information. If this is not the case, then the process 200 follows a NO arrow back to the step 201 in a looping fashion. If, on the other hand, the step 201 returns a logical TRUE value, then the process 200 follows a YES arrow to a step 202.

200206 742820V2 -9- In the step 202, the calendar producer server 508 and the client machine 503 communicate over the network 504 in order to define and/or update the merchants that the client 501 wishes to select. In this manner, the client 501 can redefine the merchants of interest, such as the merchant 516, in accordance with corresponding evolution of the end customers such as the customer 511. For example, as the membership and/or the supporters of the University Cricket Club evolve over time, the client 501 can redefine (ie update) the merchants of interest, such as the merchant 516, in order to ensure that the customized calendars, as shown in Fig. 2 reflect the evolving nature of the end customers such as the customer 511.

Returning to Fig. 4, in a subsequent step 203, the client communicates new and/or updated client advertising material, (see 404 in Fig. 2) after which in a step 204, the calendar producer 508 updates the client data 522 in the client database 521 to reflect the information received in the steps 202 and 203. The process then follows an arrow 205 back to the step 201.

It is important to note that the processes described in relation to Figs. 3 and 4 enable both the merchant 516 and the client 501 to modify their product and/or advertising selections on an ongoing basis, thereby maintaining the accurate targeting of information to the end customers 511.

Fig. 5 shows a process for producing a new batch of customized calendars. The process 300 commences with a step 301 in which the calendar producer server 508 determines if a new batch of customized calendars is required. This can be determined, for example, on a time basis, in the event that the client 501 has ordered four batches of calendars per year. On the other hand, this can be determined by a special request from the client 501. If the step 301 returns a logical FALSE value, then the process 300 follows a NO arrow back to the step 301 in a looping fashion. If, on the other hand, the 200206 742820V2 step 301 returns a logical TRUE value, then the process 300 follows a YES arrow to a step 302.

In the step 302, the calendar producer server 508 retrieves the client selections made by the client 501 in the step 202 in Fig. 4 from the corresponding client data 522 in the client database 521. In a following step 303, the server 508 determines, on the basis of the merchant offers made in the step 102 of Fig. 3, the next set of merchant offers for insertion into the new batch of customised calendars. Thus, for example, if the merchant 516 provides twenty offers, and if the customized calendar contains twelve of these, then the merchant offers will be provided on a rotating basis. In other words, the first twelve offers will be inserted into a current customized calendar, and the remaining ten plus the first two offers will be presented in a next customized calendar and so on.

In a following step 304, the server 508 integrates the client advertising material, the matching merchant product advertising material and associated discount offers into the layout for the new batch of customized calendars, and produces the batch of customized calendars that are provided to the client as depicted by the dashed arrow 519.

The process 300 is then directed, according to an arrow 305, back to the step 301.

Industrial Applicability It is apparent from the above that the arrangements described are applicable to the advertising and printing industries.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive.

In the context of this specification, the word "comprising" means "including principally but not necessarily solely" or "having" or "including", and not "consisting only of'. Variations of the word "comprising", such as "comprise" and "comprises" have correspondingly varied meanings.

200206 742820V2 -11- Although the present description has been directed to the customized discount calendar 400, an example of which is shown in Fig. 2 according to another arrangement, the tear-off discount coupons 406 may be omitted. In this form, the customized discount calendar still provides the calendar function depicted at 405, and still provides the client 501 with thile opportunity to present the client advertising material 404. The physical configuration of the calendar, particularly the aspect of the magnet 410 enabling the calendar to be conveniently located on a fridge, for example, provides utility to the end customer 511, even without the tear off discount coupons 406.

In the arrangement directed to the customized discount calendar 400 including the tear-off discount coupons 406, the calendar can be mounted on, for example, the fridge in the kitchen of the end customer 511, thereby providing the end customer 511 with both the useful functionality of the calendar 405 and the tear-off discounts 406, while presenting advertising material from the client 501 (at 404), and from the merchant 516 (at 406).

200206 742820V2 12 Appendix A Example of Client Data No. Client Name Client Advert Merchant No. 1 Merchant No. 2 1 University Sports in action ABC Hotel Joe Shoes Cricket Club (20) 2 ABC Car Family and Tom's Garage Bob's auto Dealer sports cars spares 742820V2 200206 13- Appendix B Example of Merchant Data No. Merchant Name Offer No. 1 Offer No. 2 Offer No. 3 1 ABC Hotel 20 discount Buy 5 beers get 10% room on Saturday one free on discount for 1 Lunch ($10 Sundays week stay max) 2 Joes Shoes 5% discount when purchasing 2 or more pairs 200206 742820V2

Claims (11)

1. A customised calendar comprising: a stack of calendar pages being detachably attached to a backing sheet bearing a magnet mounted on a rear surface thereof, to thereby enable the calendar to be magnetically affixed to a vertical surface; wherein a facing one of the stack of calendar pages is detachable from the calendar without destabilising the affixed calendar; and upon each of the calendar pages is presented: calendar distributor advertising material; and calendar information.

2. A customised calendar according to claim 1, wherein: the detachably attached calendar pages comprise paper rated at 100 grams per square centimetre or more; and the backing sheet comprises paper rated at 160 grams per square centimetre or more.

3. A customised calendar according to claim 2, wherein: each detachably attached calendar page further comprises a set of individually detachable discount coupons each bearing a discount offer and merchant advertising material associated with a product for sale by the merchant.

4. A customised calendar according to claim 3, wherein: the discount coupons on each detachably attached calendar page are valid for a time period dependent upon the calendar information on the page. 200206 742820V2 A customised calendar according to claim 3, wherein: the rear surface of backing sheet bears calendar producer advertising material.

6. A customised calendar according to claim 5, wherein: the merchant is a hotel; the product is food on sale in a restaurant in the hotel; the discount offer is a 10% reduction on the price of a meal purchased on a Saturday in the restaurant; and the merchant advertising material is a trademark of the hotel.

7. A method of segmented advertising comprising the steps of: specifying for each of a plurality of merchants a plurality of offers, each comprising a specified discount and advertising material for a product to be sold by the merchant; selecting by a calendar distributor at least one of the plurality of merchants; and producing a customised calendar according to claim 3, wherein the discount offer and merchant advertising material on each of the individually detachable discount coupons is established by the selecting step by the calendar distributor.

8. A method of segmented advertising according to claim 7, wherein: the selecting step is dependent upon attributes of an end customer of the calendar distributor; and the method comprises a further step of: distributing the customised calendar to the end customer by the calendar distributor; thereby presenting the discount offer and merchant advertising material to the end customer. 200206 742820V2 -16-

9. A method of segmented advertising according to claim 8, wherein the distributing step further comprises payment by the end customer to the calendar distributor for the customised calendar. A method of segmented advertising according to claim 9, wherein: the step of specifying, for each of a plurality of merchants, a corresponding plurality of offers, further comprises the steps of: specifying, for each said merchant, a class to which the product belongs; and storing, in an electronically accessible database, the merchant offers indexed by said class; and wherein the step of selecting by the calendar distributor at least one of the plurality of merchants comprises the steps of: specifying a class associated with the end customer; and searching the database dependent upon the class to identify a merchant who is offering a product that is suitable for the end customer.

11. A method of segmented advertising according to claim 10, wherein: the merchant is a hotel; the product is food on sale in a restaurant in the hotel; the discount offer is a 10% reduction on the price of a meal purchased on a Saturday in the restaurant; the merchant advertising material is a trademark of the hotel; the calendar distributor is a cricket club; 200206 742820V2 -17- the end customer is a club supporter, having an attribute of residing in the vicinity of the hotel; the class, specified by the hotel, to which the food on sale in the restaurant in the hotel belongs is "modest price family meals" the class, specified by the calendar distributor, associated with the end customer, is "eats out"; and the identification of the merchant is performed by finding an association between key words in "eats out" and "modest price family meals".

12. A customised calendar substantially as described herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

13. A method of segmented advertising substantially as described herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this twenty-second Day of February, 2006 FRIDGE DOOR CONCEPTS PTY. LTD. Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON&FERGUSON 200206 742820